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VP Harris to sit down hours from now with Bret Baier for first Fox News interview

VP Harris to sit down hours from now with Bret Baier for first Fox News interview

Facing off against former President Trump in a margin-of-error showdown with less than three weeks to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her conversations with the media during the final stretch on the campaign. That effort ramps up a notch on Wednesday, as the vice president is scheduled to sit down in battleground Pennsylvania with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier for an interview that will run on “Special Report” at 6 p.m. ET. Harris will speak with Fox News following an afternoon campaign event in Bucks County, a crucial swing county in Philadelphia’s northern suburbs. Baier said the Democratic presidential nominee is expected to sit for approximately 25-30 minutes at around 5 p.m. ET, about an hour before “Special Report” airs live. HARRIS RAMPS UP OUTREACH TO BLACK MEN AS TRUMP MAKES GAINS “We are going to run it uninterrupted, unedited, all the way,” Baier said on the eve of the interview. The vice president’s first formal interview on Fox News will give her a chance to speak directly to viewers across the ideological spectrum who normally don’t watch the rival cable news networks CNN and MSNBC. “Special Report” is regularly among the most-watched programs on cable news, and the show’s Common Ground segment features political leaders from across the aisle discussing the issues of the day with the goal of finding compromise. “We have a lot of eyeballs. We have Democrats, independents and Republicans,” Baier said. “We have the biggest cable news audience. And this is probably going to get a lot more eyeballs. I think tough but fair is what I pitched it as. And I think that’s what they’re going to see.” CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION Harris largely avoided interviews after replacing President Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket in mid-July. Her first formal sitdown interview – with CNN – didn’t occur until late August. But she has ramped up her media appearances in recent weeks, including interviews with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC’s “The View,” late night talk show host Stephen Colbert, radio personality Howard Stern, and numerous podcasts. Most of those encounters were perceived as friendly interviews. But the interview with Baier on Fox News may feed the perception that the vice president in the closing stretch of the campaign is open to facing tough questions. “She knows there are going to be hard questions. She can handle those,” seasoned Democratic strategist and communicator Chris Moyer told Fox News. “Going through that process and handling that, you’re kind of going behind enemy lines a little bit.” Moyer, a veteran of multiple Democratic presidential campaigns, argued that “doing well in that is a good boost for the campaign, and voters like to know that they’re going to elect somebody who can handle not just the friendly interviews.” Harris becomes the first Democratic presidential nominee in eight years to sit for an interview on Fox News – 2016 standard-bearer Hillary Clinton spoke with Chris Wallace. But leading Harris surrogates – including Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – have made high-profile appearances on Fox News this summer and autumn. And Democratic vice presidential nominee, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, was interviewed on “Fox News Sunday” the past two weekends. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION SHOW  Aides to the Harris running mate reached out to Fox News to schedule his second appearance.  “Folks deserve to hear where we stand on this. Vice President Harris and I have an agenda for, you know, a new way forward, a manufacturing agenda. I was just in Michigan this week. And I think folks are still undecided out there. And I appreciate you. You ask good, hard questions and your viewers get a chance to hear,” Walz told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream this past weekend. The Harris sitdown with Baier comes the same day that Fox News will run a townhall with Trump, with the former president fielding questions on issues such as abortion and child care from an all-female audience. The program, recorded on Tuesday in battleground Georgia, will air Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET on “The Faulkner Focus.” Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Trump to join Fox News’ Harris Faulkner at all-women town hall in battleground state

Trump to join Fox News’ Harris Faulkner at all-women town hall in battleground state

Former President Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, is joining Fox News’ Harris Faulkner in the battleground state of Georgia to speak with an all-female audience about issues that affect them most in a town hall event that will air Wednesday.  The town hall will be filmed at a venue called the Reid Barn in Cumming, Georgia, on Tuesday and air on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET on “The Faulkner Focus.” Ahead of the event, Faulkner underscored the importance of the female vote and for presidential candidates to have the opportunity to explain their platforms to the demographic.  “Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most. I am looking forward to providing our viewers with an opportunity to learn more about where former President Trump stands on these topics,” Faulkner said in a Fox News press release.  Georgia is once again a battleground state where both parties are vying for votes to help determine the election. Trump won the state in 2016 against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The state flipped blue in 2020, with now-President Biden winning the state by 0.23% over Trump. TRUMP MAKES PLAY FOR WOMEN’S VOTE, VOWS TO ENSURE ‘POWERFUL EXCEPTIONS’ FOR ABORTION Fox News polling from late last month found that the Democrat nominee, Vice President Harris, had a three-point advantage over Trump. More Georgia voters reported that Harris is the candidate who will help the middle class and protect democracy by a three-point margin on each issue. She is also seen as more likely to fight “for people like you” by six points. JD VANCE VOWS TRUMP WOULD NOT IMPOSE FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, VETO IT IF COMES ACROSS DESK Harris’ largest lead is on handling the issue of abortion, where she is favored by 18 points over Trump. The VP notably received her best numbers from Black voters, urban voters, those under age 30 and women. The top issues affecting women this cycle, according to Fox polling, include abortion, the economy, immigration and health care. Trump is expected to discuss these issues at length during the town hall. Abortion has once again featured prominently in this election, with the Harris campaign repeatedly claiming that Trump would roll out a federal ban on abortion if he’s re-elected to the White House. NEW POLL REVEALS WHICH VOTER GROUP ARE FUELING TRUMP TO A NARROW EDGE OVER HARRIS IN BATTLEGROUND Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have repeatedly pushed back and said there would be no federal abortion ban, noting that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion laws and rules are left up to individual states. Late last month, Trump vowed in a lengthy Truth Social post to “protect women at a level never seen before” if elected and to ensure that “powerful exceptions” for abortion are adopted across the nation. VP KAMALA HARRIS TO SIT DOWN WITH CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR BRET BAIER FOR FIRST FORMAL FOX NEWS INTERVIEW “Women are poorer than they were four years ago, are less healthy than they were four years ago, are less safe on the streets than they were four years ago, are more depressed and unhappy than they were four years ago, and are less optimistic and confident in the future than they were four years ago,” he wrote. “I will fix all of that, and fast, and at long last this national nightmare will be over,” he said. “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free!” Fox News has repeatedly extended a standing town hall event invitation of the same stature to the Harris campaign since August, when she officially became the Democratic Party’s nominee. Harris did accept an invitation for a sit-down interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier early Wednesday evening. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.     Fox News’ Dana Blanton contributed to this report.

Anti-Israel rhetoric intensifies in critical battleground city: ‘Utterly chilling’

Anti-Israel rhetoric intensifies in critical battleground city: ‘Utterly chilling’

A crowd of rallygoers in Dearborn, Michigan, waved flags in support of Lebanon and chanted “Death to Israel” in an event attended by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, while at another rally participants chanted a common threat against Jews. Multiple events in Dearborn, a suburb west of Detroit, over the last few weeks have highlighted the growing resentment for Israel in the city as Vice President Kamala Harris attempts to shore up support among a fragile coalition in the vital swing state of Michigan. Hammoud, the city’s mayor, spoke at a Sept. 25 rally in support of Lebanon and slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, which featured chants of “Death to Israel” and demands for Jews to be returned “back to Poland.” “The reality is, they wish for us to divide ourselves,” Hammoud said at the rally, video of which was reported on by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “But my message is very clear. The values which we advocate for here in Dearborn, we understand, we not only want for the people within the city of Dearborn, but for the people across this globe.” HARRIS UNVEILS NEW AGENDA AS SHE COURTS BLACK MALE VOTERS Community leader Osama Siblani helped lead the event, MEMRI reported, introducing Hammoud as “the greatest mayor in the United States of America,” and later praised Nasrallah, the former secretary-general of Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month. “Our martyrs are heroes, our leaders are great,” Siblani said, according to a MEMRI translation of the video. “And first among them, their leader, the great Sayyed, Hassan Nasrallah.”  The rally was one of several in Dearborn in recent weeks that featured similar rhetoric, highlighting an issue for Harris as she seeks to keep together the voters that helped put President Biden over the top in Michigan just four years ago. Residents of the town have become increasingly dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, going so far as to launch multiple movements aimed at preventing him from securing the Democratic nomination earlier this year. Leaders of the movements expressed an openness to throwing their support behind Harris after Biden dropped out, though that potential enthusiasm waned as Harris continued to attempt to toe a fine line between support for Israel and sympathy to the plight of Gazans. While Harris initially attempted to bridge the gap between her campaign and voters in Dearborn, who voted 74% for Biden in 2020, more recent trips to the state have focused on shoring up support among working-class voters in Flint and Detroit. WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS IN THE 2024 ELECTION SHOW  But it remains to be seen whether that will be enough in Michigan, where recent polling has trended in former President Trump’s direction. According to the Real Clear Politics average on Tuesday, Trump holds a razor-thin lead of just 0.9 points. However, the narrow lead represents a roughly three-point swing from the end of August, when Harris had a 2.2 point lead, according to the Real Clear Politics average. The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Meanwhile, Dearborn has seen continued anti-Israel events in recent weeks. At a vigil for Nasrallah at the end of September, MEMRI reported that demonstrators were caught on video chanting “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews,” a common historical threat to Jewish people. CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN THE 2024 ELECTION “’Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return’ is a battle cry repeated by Muslims throughout history that is a specific death threat to Jews. It refers to the attack on the Jewish community of the Bani Qurayza tribe of the Arabian Peninsula, at the Khaybar oasis, when Islam’s Prophet Mohmmad’s army slaughtered 100 Jews who refused to convert to Islam. The others surrendered and agreed to pay a poll tax,” Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of MEMRI, told Fox News Digital. “This explicit call for killing Jews from the heart of Dearborn caught on video is utterly chilling and disturbing. It is an undeniably violent antisemitic chant constituting incitement to genocide.” At another rally at the center of a MEMRI report over the weekend, people in the crowd were seen holding a sign that depicted Nasrallah making a hand gesture along with the phrase “you will be returned horizontally,” a nod to when the former Hezbollah leader threatened “American soldiers and officers” in the Middle East that they would return home “in a horizontal position,” or “coffins.” “Under normal circumstances, local authorities would be called on to investigate and act on such incidents,” Stalinsky said. “But considering that these rallies have taken place with the participation of the mayor. as well as of local police officers, judges and other city officials, it will take an investigation on the state level to adequately review these incidents – all of which should be denounced by municipal and local authorities, beginning with the mayor’s office.” Hammoud’s office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Why Trump, battling media hostility, is declaring war on fact-checkers

Why Trump, battling media hostility, is declaring war on fact-checkers

As the negative media onslaught against Donald Trump grows louder, he is taking on the fact-checkers. What’s fascinating in the coverage is that the journalists and organizations that do this are treated like prophets handing down the tablets from Mount Olympus. There is no hint, not a whiff, that they might sometimes be wrong or engaging in overkill. AS A CAUTIOUS KAMALA LOSES MOMENTUM, DEMOCRATS ARE PANICKING OVER A TRUMP WIN In a new Gallup poll, 36 percent said they had “no trust at all” in the media, while just 31 percent said they found the media to be fair and accurate a “great deal” or “fair amount.” The distrust was far higher among Republicans than Democrats. Now skeptics will say that Trump tells a lot of falsehoods, some decisions are clear-cut, and it’s worth trying to hold him accountable. I know these folks work hard, having done a lot of it myself, but sometimes the fact checks are contentious in gray areas, or even over something Trump said jokingly at a rally. I don’t even have to make the argument that Kamala Harris draws overwhelmingly favorable coverage. Now that she’s come out of her cocoon in the light of slipping polls, sitting down today with Fox’s Bret Baier, she has a short period of time to break through after walling herself off. With Democrats in panic mode, she is also ramping up her rhetoric against the former president. And we’re seeing an explosion of columns and segments on what Harris needs to do to turn her campaign around – free advice from the media. OBAMA ACCUSES BLACK MEN OF SEXISM AMID RELUCTANCE TO SUPPORT KAMALA HARRIS As the Washington Post notes, Trump complained about fact-checking by ABC in his debate with Harris (when it did seem like 3 against 1). And in turning down “60 Minutes,” he cited the program’s tradition of fact checking. (He also drew flak from CNBC yesterday after backing out of an interview.) If there’s one moment that crystallizes the media opposition to Trump, it’s his appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists. The opening question was a diatribe about how he was a horrible racist, building up to why any Black voters should support him. The Harris appearance, by contrast, was practically a lovefest. Behind the scenes, there was a tense, hour-long impasse in which Trump was refusing to take the stage if there would be fact-checking. When he finally took the stage, the group lied and blamed the entire delay on audio problems. TRUMP COUNTERS HARRIS MEDIA BLITZ BY RIPPING BOB WOODWARD, HOWARD STERN AND HER HURRICANE BRIEFING How is it that Trump says things that trigger journalistic outrage, sometimes with incendiary language, but raise no doubts among many Republicans? The New York Times offers this explanation:  “One of the more peculiar aspects of Donald J. Trump’s political appeal is this: A lot of people are happy to vote for him because they simply do not believe he will do many of the things he says he will… “It’s how they rationalize his rhetoric, by affording him a reverse benefit of the doubt.”  A 40-year-old Detroit publisher was quoted as saying he didn’t believe Trump would purge the federal government and hire only election deniers: “It could just be for publicity, just riling up the news.” Whether Trump wins or loses, he will have the support of roughly half the country. In 2020, that amounted to 73 million voters. And yet most of the mainstream media, with some exceptions, have never really understood the unshakable bond between Trump and his supporters. Most tend to travel in circles where allowing him to be a “danger to democracy” is unthinkable. He has made inroads among Black voters, especially Black men, some of whom say the Democrats make promises at election time and then forget about their community. In fact, some pundits have unloaded on Trump supporters as being dummies or racist yahoos. That “basket of deplorables” approach means they are failing to grasp how much of the country feels and what their legitimate grievances might be.  That would seem to call for a sweeping reassessment of their views about America if Trump wins a second term, except the media aren’t big on self-reflection.